Publishing efforts in Sub-Saharan African countries have been
aimed at reducing illiteracy, improving the content of educational materials
and enhancing the self-image of the region. In the face of countless problems
facing the industry there has been significant growth during the last two
decades. Among others, the article focuses on the strides made through the
establishment of national book development councils, the institution of book
fairs, national publishers associations, the Noma Award, and the roles played
by the African Books Collective and the African Publishing Network.
Acknowledges activities of international organizations like the Bellagio
Publishing Network, Unesco, and the Book Aid International that support
these efforts. Reviews the publishing industry in English-speaking Sub Saharan
Africa over the last two decades and raises concern over the role of
multinationals in the local book industry. Recommends that the great gains made
so far need to be sustained and taken further through the establishment of
national book policies.

It has traditionally been assumed that a publishing industry
would somehow emerge to meet the needs of modern societies. Therefore the
publishing of books and other printed materials has never received the
attention that it deserves from development specialists, governments, or the
research community. Government neglect of the industry continues to be a
significant reason for the very slow progress of its development in Africa.
Support for the infrastructure is generally negligible and very little is given
in terms of incentives such as tax concessions, book studies and subsidies.
(Faye, 1998). Most developing countries have not conceived a clear policy
regarding the development of a publishing industry, and in many cases
government policies have actually hindered the creation of a viable publishing
community.

Books and publishing are not equally distributed throughout the world. A small
number of countries led by the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France
and Germany--dominate world publishing. These have the major multinational
publishers, constitute the main international centres of publishing and have
considerable influence beyond their borders. With the exception of China,
India, Egypt, Mexico, and Argentina, much of the developing world is peripheral
to the publishing industry. Africa imports close to 70% of its book needs and
exports less than 5% of its total output. Yet publishers on the continent
continue to operate in suppressive environments characterized by poor
infrastructure, low literacy levels and poor reading habits. Constraining
educational systems that do not encourage publishing in certain areas, monopoly
by the state publishers or multinationals, and high book production and
distribution costs are prevalent. (Makotsi, 1998:1). There is a dearth of
expertise and lack of an appropriate forum to voice concerns, share experiences
and learn from more successful enterprises all over the world.

Publishing, however, is a strategic industry in the development of the African
continent. Without books, active literacy is near impossible. Illiteracy blocks
education and lack of education stands in the way of development. Zell &
Lomer (1996:1) assert that:

Publishing is closely linked to culture and to education and these
are deeply rooted in national goals. It is simply not advisable to rely on
imported books. The key concepts here are autonomy and indigenization.

The review is mainly on the publishing industry in English-speaking Sub Saharan
Africa over the last two decades. The industry is here taken to mean the
coordination of the various managerial, financial and technical processes
needed to bring a book from the idea of an author to a printed product. The
concern here is the selection and editing of manuscript, the planning and
supervision of the process of transforming the manuscript into a book, and
ensuring this product reaches its intended market.

Current state of the industry

Within the last 15 years, African publishing industry can be said
to have registered over 500% growth, judging by the increase in the number of
book publishers on the scene. Whilst in 1983 Africa was recorded to have 818
publishers both commercial and institutional, the current figure could easily
be within the range of 4000, of which 50% are commercial publishers (Makotsi,
1998:1). Faye (1998) observed that:

Since 1987 we have witnessed spectacular growth in children's publishing, in
both European and African languages. In Kenya, for example, the production of
books for young people from one publisher leapt from five titles in 1988 to 127
in 1998. One study showed that in Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria production has
notably increased in the last ten years. At the same time as the growth in the
number of titles, there is a significant increase in print-runs, on average
3000-5000 copies per title.

As the result of new thinking on how to develop indigenous publishing and the
need for new approaches to tackle the many problems facing African book
industries, there is substantial increase in research and publications on
African publishing. The 1984 volume of Zell and Lomer's bibliography on African
publishing listed a total of 658 references compared to the current volume
(1996) listing over 2,200 citations. Developments that have contributed
significantly to autonomous publishing in Africa are the Noma Award for
Publishing in Africa; the first Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) held in
1983; and the launching in 1989, of the Oxford-based African Books Collective
(ABC). Others are the establishment of the Bellagio Publishing Network and the
African Publishing Network (APNET) respectively in 1991 and 1992; and the
publication of the African Publishing Review (APR) , the Bellagio
Publishing Network Newsletter (BPNN) , alongside the quarterly African
Book Publishing Record (ABPR). These developments also mark growth in the
industry.

Continental Publishing Associations

Self-help in the industry has come through the founding of the
Africa Publishing Network in 1992. APNET has the vision of transforming African
peoples through access to books and the mission to strengthen African
publishers and national publishers associations through networking, training
and trade promotion. Its mission is being fulfilled as it has created an
awakening to the obstacles that impeded publishing in Sub Sahara Africa. APNET
has also encouraged research and documentation and the formation of national
book development agencies. It brings together national publishers associations
from 27 African countries.

Established in 1990, ABC is owned and governed by forty-one autonomous
indigenous African publishers. It represents a major break-through in the
marketing and distribution of African published books to Western Europe and
America. Following discussions between the British Council and ABC about the
role of the former in the publishing and book industries in Africa, the British
Council, in a new departure, sponsored African book exhibits in 1997 and 1998
in Kampala, London and Nairobi. ABC's view was co-operation to ensure that
British Council programmes in Africa should work in support of local capacity
building.

National Publishers Associations

National publishing bodies or similar associations have been
founded in many African countries. The strength and achievements of such
organizations may be seen in Kenya where the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA)
fought and won recognition and the issue of a national book policy. Earlier
attempts to have a dialogue with the Ministry of Education were futile until
the 'December 1993 tripartite meeting between the World Bank, the Ministry and
KPA.' (Muita, 1998).

In Guinea, the creation in May 1998 of a national professional network
comprising all partners in the book chain was very significant. The association
members include publishers, bookshops, printers, cultural NGOs, the service
supporting public reading, and the writers' association. Like all others, the
Guinean association's strategic objectives are to:

create a co-operative framework for publishing development and book promotion;
promote reading and a sustainable literate environment in Guinea; instigate the
formulation of a national book policy involving all partners; develop training
programmes for all branches of the local book industry; and facilitate the
availability and accessibility of books to as many Guineans as possible. (Sow,
1998)

Apart from coordinating national publishing efforts in individual countries
these national associations act as the contact point for APNET activities on
the continent. Products of African publishing are made visible through national
books-in-print published by these associations.

National Book Fairs

Book fairs are among the trade promotion functions of APNET as
they offer an ideal forum to discuss specific issues that promote intra-African
trade. Book fairs have been held in Africa probably since the mid-1970s with
the Ife Book Fair of 1973 as the first in Nigeria and that of Ghana held in
1977 (Amuso, 1985; Adhozo, 1978). The first Nairobi book fair may have been in
1989 (Anon, 1989). Over the past decade there has been growth in the number of
countries promoting their books and other publishing activities through book
fairs. Prominent among the fairs is the Zimbabwe International Book Fair held
for the first time in 1983. The annual ZIBF is now the crossroads for all parts
of the African book communities and has grown by 20-30% annually during the
1990s (Zell & Lomer, 1996:1). In 1998 it attracted over 350 exhibitors from
52 countries. Running parallel to the book exhibitions are seminars and
training workshops on all aspects of the book industry. For example, the
Southern African Book Development Educational Trust organized a training
workshop on the publication of scholarly research for African graduate students
at the 1999 Zimbabwe Book Fair.

National Book Development Councils

The book industry in any country is a large complex of many
partners - authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians-who must work together
as a team. With such a wide range of professions there is need for coordination
by a central agency such as a National Book Development Council. Stimulating
and coordinating the publication and use of books in such a manner that they
become effective tools of national development, this agency ensures that book
promotion plans are integrated with the overall national development planning.
Book development agencies have gained firm ground and wide acceptance in Asia
hence the regional meeting of African book development experts convened by
Unesco in Accra in 1968 recommended the setting up of similar bodies in Africa.
However the idea has been slow to catch on in Africa, with only a few including
Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe having much success.

Resources for Training and Research

Research into African publishing has increased, as there is the
infrastructure on the continent and outside it. Zell & Lomer (1996)
reported 7 post graduate degrees in African publishing between 1975 and 1991,
with Nigeria producing 4; with Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe sharing one
each. The Independent Publishers' Association of South Africa (IPASA)
established the Publishing Training Project (PTP) in mid 1994 to provide
work-related training to publishers and NGOs. By the end of 1997, more than
1200 trainees had attended some 22 different short courses mounted in various
centres in South Africa. The Project mounted a Training of Trainers Workshop in
South Africa in April 1998 in collaboration with APNET. In August, in
partnership with the British Council, the PTP ran a copy-editing course during
the Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF). (Ralphs, 1998).

APNET 's African Publishing Institute has two offices- one in Nairobi, Kenya
for Anglophone Africa; and the other in Lome, Togo for Francophone Africa. The
newly established resource centre of APNET in Harare is to complement the
training efforts of APNET by providing the needed research materials on African
publishing. Zell and Lomer (1996) have donated the majority of the material in
their bibliography on publishing and book development to the Centre with the
view to making it widely accessible for research and teaching. The introduction
of publishing studies at the undergraduate level by the UST in Ghana,
University of Buea in Cameroon, and Moi University in Kenya for example, adds
to the resources available for training book personnel.

Three newsletters cover essential literature on indigenous African publishing.
The African Book Publishing Record was founded in 1975 while the
African Publishing Review (of APNET) and the Bellagio Publishing
Network Newsletter were both founded in 1992. They provide detailed
bibliographic coverage of African-published material, include extensive book
review sections, magazine and journal review, as well as articles, reports and
interviews which relate to publishing and book development in Africa. Also
published are full-length articles on the publishing scene in most African
countries. The Bellagio Newsletter is dedicated to the promotion of books and
publishing in Africa, as well as the Third World.

The Oxford Centre for Publishing Studies and the Oxford Brookes University
Library in 1998 announced the establishment of a special collection on
Publishing in Africa. The collection is a donation of an extensive range of
books, reports, booklets and other material by the aid organization,
CODE/Europe with generous funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Heinemann
Publishers. It includes donations of books by the Bellagio Group and the
International African Institute of the School of Oriental and African Studies,
London. (Anon, 1998). Through the Publishers' Resource Pack project, BAI has
supplied training and reference books to publishers, national publishers'
associations and other organisations producing and disseminating written
materials throughout Africa.

The amount of information on the Internet pertaining to African publishing is
incredible. All the three newsletters--ABPR, APR and BPNN-- are available
online. And so are the APNET, BAI (Book Aid International), ABC, and Bellagio.
Another helpful site is the African Journals Online a pilot project of
the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications
(INASP). It is a new service which promotes the awareness and use of
African-published journals in science and technology by using the Internet to
publish current contents, backed up with a document delivery service, as well
as full text for a number of articles. Hans Zell Publishing Consultants
'Starter's Pack' on African publishing covers major bibliographic and address
sources, the most important journals, newsletters and monographic series which
focus on publishing and book development in Africa (Hans Zell, 1998).

Two useful monograph series devoted to African publishing are Bellagio
Studies in Publishing from the Bellagio Publishing Network and
Perspectives on African Book Development published by the Association
for Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). They both have published nine
titles to date. Another valuable source is the Development Directory of
Indigenous Publishing published in 1995 by APNET. It carries essays on
various aspects of indigenous publishing, profiles on the state of publishing
in specific regions, an inventory of African development organizations, as well
as an annotated listing of international organizations promoting local
publishing. The International Book Publishing Encyclopedia also has many
sections pertinent to African publishing.

Donor Support

African publishing has been a beneficiary of many donors, among
them BAI, Noma Award, Bellagio Group, World Bank, Obor and Dag Hammarskjold
Foundations, Unesco, INASP and ADEA. In 1997 Book Aid International (BAI)
raised over $1 million to continue and expand, over three years, its two
existing publishing support activities--the Intra African Book Support Scheme
(IABSS) and the Publishers' Resource Pack (PRP) project established in 1992.
Since then around $290,000 worth of books has been purchased through the IABSS,
run in partnership with ABC, and distributed to university and public libraries
all over Africa. (Nicholson, 1998). The Rockefeller Foundation, the Nippon
Foundation, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Unwin Charitable
Trust and the European Commission support this aim through the provision of
funds.

Working closely with APNET and national publishers' associations, the Partners
in African Publishing Programme (under BAI since 1998) maintains the
information services it provides for the African book development community.
BAI has also assumed responsibility for the Tanzania Resource Centre Project,
previously run by CODE/Europe. APNET works closely with ADEA, which in turn
participates in the Bellagio Publishing Network. The series Perspectives on
African Book Development is published through ADEA's Working Group on
Learning Materials, which in 1996, organised workshops, and case studies on
cost-effectiveness of publishing educational materials.

The Noma Award for Publishing in Africa owes its establishment to the late
Shoichi Noma, former President of the Japanese publishing house Kodansha Ltd.
The first award was presented in 1980 and has since become perhaps the most
prestigious book prize on the African continent. The prize includes a cheque
for US$10,000. (Jay, 1998; Zell, 1992). A new prize for African writers was
launched in the United Kingdom on 14 June 1999. Called the Caine Prize, it is
named in celebration of the late Sir Michael Caine, former chairman of Booker
Plc, who was chairman of 'Africa 95' arts festival in Europe.
The first prize of US$15,000 will be awarded in June 2000 from a shortlist of
works published in the last 24 months.

As part of the development agenda the Bellagio Group was established in 1991
out of an international conference on publishing in developing countries. The
group is an informal association of donors and other organizations dedicated to
the strengthening of indigenous publishing in Africa and elsewhere. The book
Publishing and Development in the Third World was also a product of the
conference. The group publishes the quarterly Bellagio Publishing Network
Newsletter and has a Research & Information Centre that provides and
sponsors research related to book development and publishing. The Obor
Foundation has made significant books available to the reading public in South
and Southeast Asia through reprints and translations. Its assistance is a small
loan programme which saves the publisher from having to venture limited
capital, particularly on titles they are not sure of. Obor pays all editorial
costs, clears copyright, and may pay some manufacturing costs. (Altbach,
1992)

In African publishing, Unesco is noted for contributions towards the
establishment of National Book Development Councils in many countries, some of
which have successfully organized book fairs, run training programmes, and
sponsored book prizes. Unesco sponsored the 'moribund' Regional Book Centre for
Africa with headquarters in Yaounde, Cameroon; and has sponsored, organized or
co-organized training programmes for African publishers. Yet another
contribution comes by way of improving the content of science materials through
the Science for Africa/Kawi project for schools. (Wade, 1998). The project is
being implemented in conjunction with APNET.

Also
at the forefront of assisting local publishing efforts in Africa is the Dag
Hammarskjöld Foundation who organized three major seminars on the
development of autonomous publishing in 1984, 1989 and 1996; and co-sponsored
several others including the Arusha African Writers-Publishers seminar of 1998.
The Foundation is noted for its loan-guaranteed scheme started in Kenya since
1989.

The question of multinationals

Before World War II book publishing companies were small,
nationally based and mostly personally owned. The revolution in information
technology believed in the 1960s to be a threat to the survival of the book and
other forms of the printed word was among the factors that changed this
situation. This led to a wave of mergers, especially in the United States, as
large electronic corporations such as ITT, Xerox, and CBS scrambled to acquire
book publishing houses which owned the databanks as well as knowledge of the
markets. In Europe this process of mergers and acquisitions took place in the
1970s and by the 1980s, the process of concentration on both side of the
Atlantic had been accelerated by numerous corporate marriages between
publishing and the film and video industry. Beginning from 1990 more than half
of all book publishing in Europe and North America was controlled by companies
that were large, public owned and, international. Today, fewer than twenty
large publishing corporations dominate the industry worldwide These
multinationals own companies with divisions that operate in two or more
countries and prefer to call themselves communications or information
corporations since their activities cover radio, television, newspapers,
magazines as well as books and journals.

Led by US College textbook publishers like McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall and
Addison Wesley these multinationals discovered export markets in the 1950s and
started establishing distribution branches in Europe, Asia, Latin America and
Africa. Leading British houses that joined this export market were Collins,
Macmillan, Longman, Oxford University Press and Butterworths. By the 1960s they
had started publishing locally in these overseas markets. The one situation in
which multinationals are bitterly resented is when they move into countries
where the local publishing industry is struggling for viability. The
multinationals are then accused of stifling the development of a genuinely
national literature. This concern is captured thus:

In Africa, concerns loom large about how local books are to be published in an
environment in which the economic and political interests of multinational
firms dominate. Multinationals enter a market to earn profits. They are
basically unconcerned with ensuring that particular kinds of books are
published, and they care little about local booksellers or authors. (Altbach
& Teferra, 1998)

In South Africa the small local publishers that sustained independent
publishing during the apartheid years have had problems competing with
the multinationals, and many have either been bought by the multinationals or
have gone out of business. Rupert Murdoch made a business decision not to
publish a book in Britain that would arouse the ire of China. If such decisions
can be made in Britain, political interference in smaller and weaker markets,
such as Africa, would cause Murdoch no worry. The opening of a Borders
megastore in Singapore is another example of the role of multinationals in the
book trade. Singapore, despite high per capita income and universal literacy,
has not been well served by bookstores. Borders was an immediate success, and
will very likely change the face of Singapore bookselling. (Altbach &
Teferra, 1998). Makotsi's study on African book trade potentials and problems,
reported that where book imports are financed by external donors such as the
World Bank, procurement preferences are often awarded to multinational
companies whose titles are tailored to the needs and interests of their home
countries. These examples tell us that book industries in Africa, as well as in
other parts of the developing world, must constantly be aware of international
trends.

On a positive note, however, multinationals also bring access to capital, easy
distribution channels to other countries, and economies of scale into the
equation. They have contributed to educational publishing and in some cases to
the training of local staff.

Discussion and the case for national book policies

Faye (1998) assigns various reasons to the progress made in African
publishing. Among them the creativity of African publishers; increase in state
purchase of books for schools and libraries; support to both publishing and
book acquisition by development agencies. He is quick to add that there remain
difficulties. The litany of problems facing the publishing industry in Africa
is not peculiar to Africa. Success case histories exist in Asian and Latin
American countries which had to start their publishing from scratch. It is to
be seen whether Africa will exploit the many opportunities presented by
illiteracy, book scarcity, suppressive environments, poor reading habits, etc.
In this wise, progress should be made within the international context of
publishing which is dominated by multinationals, technology driven, and
sustainable with less dependence on donor funding.

Although fairly insignificant in economic terms, publishing is of central
importance to the cultural, intellectual and educational life of a nation and
the development and dissemination of knowledge products is a matter of the
utmost importance for any civilization. It is also a central element in the
emerging nexus of knowledge industries that are so important to postindustrial
societies. It is not surprising that the international regulation of knowledge
industries was an important and controversial part of the recently concluded
trade negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Issues relating to
the piracy of knowledge products, including books, were at the heart of a
highly visible trade dispute between China and the United States (Altbach,
1998:3). Copyright, for example, emerged in the seventeenth-century England as
a means of protecting authors and publishers of books. The concept has
broadened to include other knowledge products, including computer programs,
films, and others. It has remained evasive in the face of current new
technologies, especially the Internet, and emerged as one of the most important
means of regulating the international flow of ideas and knowledge-based
products.

The creation and ownership of knowledge products are of increasing importance
because of the centrality of information and knowledge to postindustrial
economies. Books remain an important element of knowledge creation and
ownership. Yet the publishing industry is characterized by considerable
inequalities with much of the world and Africa being peripheral to the major
centres of publishing found in Europe and North America. With the exception of
Egypt, South Africa, and to a lesser extent Nigeria and Kenya, African nations
produce few books, and their publishing industries are largely limited to
textbooks for schools.

The impact of new technologies--reprography and computing--is very huge. The
costs of photocopying machines and of making copies have declined steadily
since the 1970s. Reprographic technology has been harnessed for printing
resulting in significant economies in printing costs, especially for limited
print-run. Recent reprographic advances, linked to computer composition, permit
greater economies in the production of printed materials. Presses based on
advanced photocopy technology can economically print small numbers of books
very quickly and inexpensively. Using reprographic technology for printing has
been a considerable advantage to publishers, and has permitted publishing to be
done on a small scale. This has assisted publishers in countries and regions,
and in languages, that have only small markets.

Of greater importance is the revolution based on the computer. Traditional
composition techniques have been replaced by computer-based composition and
book design. This has revolutionized the physical design of books and led to
the development of desktop publishing, a term that refers to the creation of
composed text through the use of personal computers. Computerized book design
and preparation have dramatically lowered the cost of composition, and also
decentralized it. The computer has also changed business procedures relating to
inventory control, billing, and tracing trends in the sale of specific titles.
This application of computer technology has also enabled small publishers to
operate efficiently in ways that could only be done by larger firms through
economies of scale. Computer technology has also permitted the effective use of
targeted mailing lists, specialized publicity campaigns, etc. These innovations
may, however, have negative implications for those without access to the new
technologies or without the resources to produce expensive multimedia
products.

Donor support and the role of multinationals present peculiar problems to a
nascent local industry. The intentions of multinationals have always been in
doubt as was the case in the Macmillan/Longman joint proposal for publishing
development in Tanzania (Bgoya,1992). Bgoya analysed the proposal in detail and
said it cannot be called anything but monopolistic. Issues of contention centre
on content of books, exploitative tendencies (for example, using the book
hunger in Africa to combine aid programmes with getting rid of old stock), lack
of training and investment in local industry (of personnel, especially young
writers). Most, if not all of these, stifle the growth of local publishing.
Donor funding must be seen as a stopgap-measure and not a solution to the
problems of publishing. Smith(1998:45) identifies funding as the single most
important factor in the growth of the industry. `Undercapitalization is
perhaps the most serious single obstacle to book publishing development in the
developing countries'. This is not merely because lack of capital forces the
publisher to print small quantities at high prices, but because it prevents all
the other long-range efforts at building for the future of both the publisher
and the society as a whole. Because book publishing is so small an industry
compared to agriculture, armament-manufacturing and port facilities, national
planners rarely consider the publisher's need for credit.

The view of prominent publishing scholars is that African governments can do a
lot to sustain and develop the gains made on the continent over the past two or
three decades. A national book policy as a plan or course of action directed at
a sound approach towards the development of books and the promotion of a
healthy national book industry is all that is required. (Altbach &Teferra,
1998; Momoh, 1997; Zell, 1992; Read, 1992; Faye, 1998). Countries like
Australia, Canada, and India have built substantial publishing industries from
scratch. At various stages in the development of Australian publishing, for
example, printing was subsidized and there were tariff barriers against
imported books. (Graham, 1992). In the view of Altbach (1996) 'private
publishing operates in the context of governmental policy.' This is true in any
country, but it is even more important in Africa where circumstances must be
favourable for the success of any new enterprise because of the difficult
economic climate. A national book policy is only a first step, but it is vital
as a way to get on track and advance the development process of the main parts
of the book chain. It provides the basis for the development of a
self-sustaining indigenous book industry and sets the scene for awareness about
a country's book industry.

Conclusion and recommendations

The paper looks at the strides made by African publishers over
the last two decades in the face of a catalogue of problems. African self-help
efforts, with support from donor agencies, are seen to be responsible for the
growth of the local publishing industry. Facilities for training and research
have improved and the formation of APNET has greatly contributed to an
awakening to the obstacles that impeded publishing in Sub Sahara Africa. The
pre-eminent place of the ZIBF is healthy for indigenous African industry.
Jointly APNET, ABC and national publishers associations stand out as the
collective voice of the industry on the continent and worldwide. The strength
found in the collective wisdom of the three defies the many and varied
distractions and problems encountered in the industry. The story of publishing
in Sub-Sahara Africa is not complete without the names of accomplished local
publishers such as Henry Chakava of Kenya; Walter Bgoya of Tanzania; Victor
Nwanko of Nigeria; Paul Brickhill founding Executive Secretary of APNET;
Richard Crabbe of Ghana; and many more. They have in no uncertain terms propped
up APNET and the national publishers associations. The challenges for African
governments are not outside their capabilities: in terms of legislation,
financial and moral commitment.

. National publishers associations and book development councils must forge
closer ties in order to facilitate a more efficiently coordinated literacy and
information campaign.. Strong government backing in the context of national book policies is needed
to sustain and take further the gains of the past. These should take the form
of tax relieves; cheap and regular supply of raw materials, including paper and
ink; easy terms of credit, etc.. APNET and its national associations should continue to raise public awareness
about the role of the local publishing industry in the overall development of
the country. Book fairs; donor funding; book prizes; education and training of
book professionals; and increased cooperation with all stakeholders in the book
chain, especially librarians.. National associations of writers, publishers, booksellers and librarians must
forge closer ties towards a more enlightened society.

Finally, the book industry is the bedrock in the promotion of literacy and
education in African countries, and the book itself is central to education and
development. Quoting Altbach, "The responsibility is considerable, the
challenges are substantial, but the endeavour is worthwhile since publishing is
at the centre of the intellectual and educational development of the Third
World" (Altbach, 1992:23)

Read, A. "International experiences in Third World publishing
deelopment with particular reference to World Bank interventions"
in Altbach (ed.). Publishing and development in the Third World. London:
Hans Zell Publishers, 1992, pp.307-324.

Zell, H.M. "Africa: the neglected continent" in Altbach, P.G.
(ed.). Publishing and development in the Third World. London: Hans Zell
Publishers, 1992, pp.65-76.

K.O. Darko-Ampem holds a
Master of Information Science from the University of Ibadan, a
Graduate Diploma (Library Studies) from from the University of Ghana and a
Bachelor of Science from the University of Cape Coast. He is currently a
Senior Assistant Librarian at the University of Botswana, Gaborone. Recent Conference papers include: "Park-libraries for Gaborone (Botswana)" Contribution to the symposium on Focus on youth: information and reading needs of children and youth for the 21st century. July 14, 1999. University
of Cape Town, South Africa; and "The Subject Librarian and professional development : a review article." Workshop on
Subject Librarianship, 27-29 July 1999. Gaborone, Department of Library Services, University of Botswana.